7\57 


Alexander  Mc&illivray,  the  last  king  of 
the  Creeks 


®[|?  ICtbrarn 

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ImtifrBttg  0f  Nnrtb  vUarnlina 


(EoUertiou  of  Horlii  ^aroUmatta 

Co  "^To.oy 


Alexander    McGillivray 


The  Last  King 
of  the    CreeKs 


Alexander      McGillivray 


THE    LAST    KING 
OF   THE   CREEKS 


ATLANTA,  GA. 

FOOTE  &  DAVIES  COMPANY 

Printees  and  Binders 

1903 


ALEXANDER      McGILLIVRaY 

THE  LAST  KING   OF  THE  CREEKS 


I  come  to  tell  you  of  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  born  in 
the  two  Americas.  For  a  sixth  of  a  century  his  fame  and  his  in- 
fluence permeated  civilization  on  both  sides  of  the  sea.  Outside 
of  his  other  influence,  next  after  John  Sevier  and  James  Robert- 
son, he  had  most  influence  in  fashioning  the  history  of  the  State 
of  Tennessee  while  these  two  were  trying  to  build  and  that 
one  to  destroy.  So  Tennessee  arose  in  history  as  land 
is  formed  and  fashioned  by  the  meeting  of  the  waters. 
During  his  control,  embracing  i6  years,  he  held  in  his  hand  many 
of  the  leading  policies  of  the  United  States,  especially  of  the  States 
of  North  Carolina,  the  so-called  State  of  Franklin,  Georgia,  Ala- 
bama and  Mississippi.  He  was  entangled  in  the  policies  of  Great 
Britain,  France  and  Spain,  in  reference  to  the  absorbing  questions 
of  these  Western  wilds  then  rife  in  those  lands.  His  mind  came 
in  fierce  and  constant  conflict  with  the  leading  diplomats  of  the 
world,  including  John  Sevier,  James  Robertson,  William  Blount, 
President  Washington,  John  Jay,  John  Adams,  Thomas  Jefferson, 
and  the  leading  diplomatists  of  England,  France  and  the  Spains, 
and  amid  those  conflicts  his  abilities  rose  resplendent.  His  policy 
was  strongly  tending  towards  success  when  it  was  thwarted  by 
his  death.  He  was  King  of  the  Creeks,  and,  in  a  sense,  had  con- 
trol of  all  the  Indians  of  the  South.  The  consuming  object  of 
his  life  w^as  the  preservation  of  the  Indians  as  an  independent  na- 
tion,— the  establishment  of  the  "Kingdom  of  the  Muscogee." 
After  his  death  all  of  his  far-seeing  policies  were  ruined  by  the 
foolish  rashness  of  Tecumseh ;  by  the  nation  entering  into  open 
war  under  the  inspiration  of  the  British,  at  that  time  in  conflict 
wdth  the  United  States.  After  the  calamity  had  become  fixed, 
and  the  hope  of  the  Kingdom  of  the  Muscogee  had  passed  away, 
it  became  a  mouth  word  among  his  adherents  that  "Before    the 


Black  Spirit  could  destro}-  the  Creeks,  he  had  to  kill    ]\IcGilli- 
vray." 

The  McGillivrays  are  a  small  clan  in  the  highlands  of  Scot- 
land, and  still  exist  in  that  country.  We  are  taught  that  the  word 
signifies  "Children  of  the  freckled  men."  They  still  reside  in 
the  vicinage  of  Dumnaglass.  Lachlan  McGillivray  was  a  red- 
headed, freckled-face  boy,  who  ran  away  from  his  servitude  as 
an  apprentice,  and  took  refuge  in  a  ship  bound  for  the  new  con- 
tinent about  the  year  1740.  He  landed  in  the  then  principal  city 
of  America,  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  with  only  a  King's  shill- 
ing in  his  pocket.  On  the  same  day  he  procured  employment  as 
a  driver  of  horses,  which  were  accustomed  to  carry  goods  to  and 
from  the  Indians  far  away  in  the  Western  woods,  whose  headquar- 
ters were  near  Montgomery,  Alabama.  It  was  this  commerce  with 
the  Indians  for  which  the  nations  of  Europe  schemed  and  many 
times  fought.  It  was  this  commerce  that  settled  and  conquered 
the  Western  world.  The  influence  of  a  desire  for  freedom  of 
conscience  for  the  white  man,  and  for  proselyting  the  Indians  to 
the  Christian  religion,  was  in  my  opinion  entirely  infinitesimal  in 
that  settlement. 

Let  us  take  one  glance  at  the  then  situation  of  the  Old  World : 
Spain,  by  reason  of  the  discovery  of  Columbus,  claimed  the  whole 
of  the  Western  continent,  and  by  might  and  main  was  holding 
what  she  could.  I  speak  of  the  Spain  of  three  and  one-half 
centuries  ago, — the  first  nation  upon  whose  dominions  it  was 
claimed  that  the  sun  never  went  down.  Then  that  austere  mon- 
arch, Charles  (of  Germany  the  5th,  of  Spain  the  ist)  the  greatest 
depositary  of  municipal  power  on  earth,  was  threatening  his  uncle, 
Henry  VIII.  of  England,  into  silence,  holding  Italy  with  a  mailed 
hand  in  subjection,  routing  and  ruining  France,  trying  with  might 
and  main  to  quiet  that  irrepressible  tongue  of  Martin  Luther, 
convening  Diet  after  Diet  to  determine  ecclesiastical  questions, 
for  the  discussion  of  which  the  people  of  that  date  appear  to  have 
been  morbidly  hungry.  While  other  monarchs  were  replenishing 
their  empty  cofifers  with  taxes  wrung  from  unwilling  people,  he 
was  building  and  filling  "Castles  de  Oro"  with  spoils  basely 
rested  from  the  Incas  and  Montezumas  of  the  New  World.  I 
speak  of  the  land  of  the  olive  and  the  vine,  of  the  paintings  of 
Murillo,  of  the  literature  of  Don  Quixote,  with  blessed  Sancho 

4 


I 


Panza.  oi  the  clevotitMi  of  Loyola,  of  the  languag-e  of  music  and 
of  love,  of  the  gay  cavalier  and  tlie  dark  eyed  Senorita,  in  the 
midst  of  all  which,  and  in  spite  of  all  which,  sat  grim  and  dark 
the  Spanish  Tnc|uisition.  I  speak  n.ot  of  the  Spain  of  to-day,  which 
has  lost  every  foot  of  her  possessions  in  the  New  World,  and  is 
now  reeling-  and  tottering-  to  her  fall. 

England,  by  a  frail  title,  was  holding  by  her  goods  and  her 
bayonets  a  thin  line  along-  the  Atlantic  Ocean  from  Florida  to 
the  St.  Lawrence,  although  her  royal  grants  were  generally  bound- 
ed on  the  west  by  the  "South  Seas,"  wherever  that  might  be 
found  to  be.  Her  title  to  this  dominion  was  based  under  the  law 
of  nations,  upon  the  fact  that  Sebastian  Cabot,  under  authority  of 
Henr}-  \'II.,  sailed  along  the  coast  from  Florida  to  Newfoundland 
and  back  again. 

La  I'.elle  France  was  claiming  and  holding  all  the  St.  Law- 
rence and  the  Lake  regions,  with  tributaries,  and  afterwards,  by 
reason  of  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  River,  was  claiming 
the  whole  valley  drained  by  its  waters.  For  about  62  years  the 
Alleghany  niotmtains  were  her  eastern  boundary,  during  which 
time  what  is  now  Tennessee  was  part  and  parcel  of  New  France. 
She  had  the  best  title  by  the  law  of  nations. 

Poor  Portugal  was  claiming  wdiat  she  could  grab  of  the  com- 
mon boodle,  and  pocketed  a  ro}-al  share  in  the  Southern  conti- 
nent. 

His  Holiness,  the  Pope  of  Rome,  was  endeavoring  to  quiet  the 
situation  by  interposing  his  right  to  ow-n  the  world  and  the  ful- 
ness thereof,  by  partitioning  all  this  disputed  domain  by  definite 
boundaries  among  the  irritated  claimants,  so  that  each  might 
know  his  respective  dominion.  That  partition  never  became  ef- 
fective. His  division  of  the  domain  was,  by  lines  of  latitude  and 
longitude,  favorable  to  Spain. 

In  the  meantime  the  Indians  throughout  the  continent  sought 
to  maintain  their  home  and  hunting  ground  against  all  comers. 
This  claim  was  rooted  in  the  unique  and  foolish  land  policy  of 
England,  inherited  by  the  I'nited  States.  In  theory  it  was  that, 
although  England,  later  the  L'nited  States,  was  entitled  to  the 
country  by  reason  of  discovery  and  conquest,  yet  the  absolute 
title  of  the  land  belonged  to  the  conquered  nation,  an  imperunn 
ill  impcrio.     Such  an  anomaly  never  existed  before  in  the  world, 


and  probably  never  will  again.  It  originated  from  a  custom  of 
the  early  settlers  upon  the  seaboard  submitting-  to  a  species  of 
blackmail,  by  which  they  were  enabled  to  occupy  land  by  license 
rather  than  undergo  the  expense  and  danger  of  purchase  or 
military  enforcement  of  the  title  they  claimed.  This  practice 
in  earl}-  days  was  not  recognized  by  the  English  Government, 
which  claimed  the  right  of  title  in  fee,  and  always  granted  with- 
out any  incumbrance.  As  practiced  it  was  construed  that  the 
Indian  nation  owned  the  absolute  title  to  the  land,  which  they 
were  forced,  by  fair  means  or  foul,  to  sell  the  Government  when- 
ever desired,  and  at  whatever  price  offered.  About  the  middle 
of  the  17th  century  this  curious  doctrine  was  recognized  by  the 
English  Government,  having  been  brought  about  by  the  device 
of  the  elder  Pitt,  at  that  time  in  charge  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment. The  title  and  claim  of  France  extended  about  half-way 
up  the  State  of  Maine  northward  as  far  as  discovered,  westward 
up  the  St.  Lawrence,  embracing  a  considerable  boundary  of 
land  contiguous  to  the  river  to  the  watershed  of  the  Alleghany 
mountains,  thence  down  those  mountains  to  the  southwest,  so  as 
to  include  the  whole  of  the  Mississippi  valley.  This  claim  was 
substantiated,  not  only  by  actual  settlements,  but  by  forts  ex- 
tending for  intervals  from  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  skirt- 
ing the  Mississippi,  to  New  Orleans.  At  the  second  treaty  of 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  October,  1748,  which  ended  the  war  of  the 
Austrian  succession,  in  which  the  English  and  French  were  in- 
volved in  long  and  bloody  conflicts  in  the  New  World,  a  ques- 
tion of  the  boundary  therein  was  not  recognized  and  determined, 
and  Pitt,  of  England,  conceived  the  idea  of  securing  this  vast 
domain  for  his  Government,  and  he  supported  it  by  every  possible 
dollar  and  man.  At  the  same  time  Madame  de  Pompadour,  who 
was  "the  biggest  man  in  France,"  wearied  of  the  burthen  of  pro- 
tecting the  French  claims  to  that  country,  and  this  gave  oppor- 
tunity to  England  to  right  heartily  improve  it.  In  pursuance  of 
this  scheme  expeditions  were  encouraged  to  capture  Fort  Du- 
quense  (now  Pittsburg)  from  the  French.  In  this  effort  Major 
Washington  was  defeated,  and  later  Braddock,  was  completely 
defeated  and  slain  before  this  object  was  obtained.  The 
English,  after  much  preparation  and  expense,  threw  a  force  far 
into  the  confines  of  the  Indians,  and  erected  a  fort  on  the  Little 

6 


Tennessee  River,  christened  it  after  the  name  of  Lord  Loudon, 
at   that   time   in   command   of   the   English    forces    in    America, 
some  22  miles  to  the  southwest  of  Knoxville.     That  little  spot 
of  ground  for  live  years  v^as  the  most  notorious  place  in  the 
world.     It  was  finally  captured  under  the  influence  of  the  French. 
In  reply  to  the  inquiry  of  the  French  government  as  to  why 
these  incursions  were  made,  while  the  two  Governments  were  at 
profound  peace,  Pitt  in  his  diplomacy  took  the  position  that  the 
land  really  belonged  to  neither  party,  but  to  the  Indians,  and  that 
his  occupation  was  with  license    from    the  various  tribes  so  as 
to  evade  the  conclusion  that  the  English  were  guilty  of  acts  of 
open    war.     His   theory   has    always    continued    down    with   the 
colonies  to  the  United  States,  and  has  been  the  foundation  of  all 
the   pseudo-sentimentality   in   favor  of   "Lo!   the   poor   Indian." 
In  no  other  instance  in  history  have  tears  been  w^asted  over  the 
wrongs  of  the  conquered  country  from  the  day  of  the  Hittites 
down  to  the  Philippinos.     It  has  cost  this  country  four  hundred 
millions  of  treasures  and  thousands  of  lives,  and  the  cancer    still 
lives.     This  theory  never  had  the  approval  or  sympathy  of  the 
pioneers,  and  the  Government  has  always    been    unable    to    en- 
force it. 

The  boundaries  were  agreed  upon,  and  guaranteed  again  and 
again  by  treaties  executed  in  most  solemn  form,  but  the 
treaties  w^ere  constantly  ignored,  and  the  lines  continually 
changed  as  the  result  of  European  diplomacy,  or  of  some  in- 
significant clash  of  arms.  To  illustrate :  The  boundary  of 
Florida,  a  Spanish  dominion,  was  the  31st  parallel  of  north  lati- 
tude. During  the  Revolutionary  war,  Spain  also  being  at  war 
with  England,  an  insignificant  battle  occurred  at  Pensacola,  in 
which  the  Spanish  arms  were  successful,  and  by  which  she  claimed 
that  her  lines  were  extended  half-way  up  the  State  of  Alabama, 
and  this  claim  worried  our  Government  and  people  many  a  long 
year.  Within  our  history,  the  site  of  "Hickory  Ground"  near 
Montgomery,  Alabama,  the  headquarters  and  one  of  the  homes 
of  INIcGillivray,  has  been  within  the  domain  of  a  half  dozen  tribes 
of  Indians,  of  England,  of  Spain,  of  France,  and  of  the  L^nited 
States,  before  it  peacefully  rested  in  the  State  of  Alabama.  It  has 
taken   many  troublous   years  to  quiet  these   conflicting  lines   in 


peace,  until  now  happily  we  hear  nothing  more  important  than 
the  re-running  and  re-marking  of  State  lines. 

The  bone  of  contention  through  all  these  terrible  times  was 
the  valuable  trade  with  the  Indians,  at  which  we  will  give  one 
passing  glance. 

In  those  days  it  was  transported  on  small  native  ponies,  one 
pack  on  each  side  of  the  horse  and  one  on  top,  weighing  in  the 
aggregate  from  120  to  180  pounds.  It  consisted  of  blankets, 
brilliant  cloths,  trinkets,  ammunition,  and — commoner  than  all — 
taffai,  a  mean  rum.  Such  articles  were  exchanged  at  extrava- 
gant rates,  as  high  as  400  per  cent,  for  the  return  barter  of 
skins  (of  which  millions  and  millions  were  exported),  peltry, 
strained  wild  honey,  and  millions  of  casks  of  hickory  nut  oil, 
which  was  ravenously  devoured  by  the  epicures  of  the  cities  of 
Europe — all  were  important  articles  of  their  commerce.  This 
last  article  was  prepared  by  the  Indians  crushing  the  nuts  and 
boiling  the  fragments  in  water,  and  then  gathering  the  oil  from 
the  top  with  a  feather. 

This  particular  caravan  to  which  this  freckle-faced  boy  had 
joined  himself  consisted  of  about  150  horses  and  16  men.  It 
headed  from  Charleston  to  Hickory  Ground,  the  present  site 
of  Wetumpka,  Alabama.  Tbe  drivers  were  dressed  in  coon-skin 
caps,  hunting  shirts,  a  square  cloth  coming  up  to  and  under  a 
belt  before  and  behind,  buckskin  leggings  and  moccasins.  This 
was  the  ordinary  raiment  of  the  pioneers  who  went  back  into 
the  wilderness.  Such  a  caravan  would  start  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, each  horse  having  a  bell  well  "grassed,"  and  travel  in  trot, 
single  file,  along  a  road  deeply  worn  in  the  ground,  until  a  rest 
was  needed,  after  which  the  journey  would  be  continued  until 
sundown,  when  the  horses  were  unloaded,  the  grass  taken  from 
the  bells,  and  they  were  allowed  to  gather  .such  forage  during  the 
night  as  they  might  be  able.  When  an  unfordable  stream  was 
reached  rafts  were  found  or  made  for  the  freight,  and  the  horses 
would  swim  to  the  other  bank.  No  material  for  rafting  has  ever 
been  found  superior  to  dried  cane. 

Young  Lachlan  had  so  pleased  his  employer  that  he  presented 
him,  in  addition  to  his  wages,  a  jack  knife,  which  at  the 
Hickory  Grotmd  he  traded  to  an  Indian  for  eight  skins,  which  on 
his   return   to   Charleston   he   traded   for   more   knives.     On   his 


second  return  to  Hickory  Ground  he  detern lined  to  remain  there, 
to  gather  up  supplies  for  traders  as  a  "■middle-man,"  and  soon 
had  a  prosperous  business  in  collecting-  goods  for  the  traders. 

As  time  wore  on  he  married  an  Indian  maiden,  Seahoy  Mau- 
chand.  the  daughter  of  the  King,  by  right  of  her  mother.  In  all 
uncivilized  nations  genealogy  is  counted  through  the  female 
line ;  it  is  more  reliable.  Her  father  was  rated  as  an  accom- 
plished French  officer,  and  young  McGillivray  married  her  by  the 
established  customs  and  ceremonies  of  the  Indians.  They  had 
five  children — two  boys  and  three  girls.  This  man,  though  his 
ancestors  had  much  to  coiiiplain  of  against  the  Kings  of  Eng- 
land, was  always  loyal  to  King  George,  and  accumulated  much 
wealth,  most  of  whv^'  was  afterwards  confiscated  by  the  United 
States.  He  was  in  Savannah  when  it  was  recaptured  by  the 
patriots,  and  gathering  of  his  substance  what  he  was  able, 
abandoned  his  wife  and  children  and  sailed  back  to'  Scotland, 
and,  so  far  as  is  known,  cut  off  all  connection  with  the  New 
World.  There  is  a  legend  that  his  mind  was  embittered  by  jeal- 
ousy of  his  son,  who  had  become  a  powerful  king,  by  right  of  his 
mother,  while  he  remained  an  Indian  trader. 

His  eldest  son  was  Alexander,  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  You 
will  see  bv  his  genealogy  that  he  was  one-half  Scotch,  one- 
quarter  French,  and  one-quarter  Indian — a  rare  combination  of 
blood.  By  inheritance  through  his  mother  he  had  right  to  the 
office  of  King  of  the  Muscogees.  By  the  custom  of  that  na- 
tion the  highest  officer  was  known  in  English  as  a  King.  Under 
him  was  a  Chief,  who'  had  control  of  all  military  operations. 
]\Iany  writers  erroneously  style  ]\IcGillivray  as  a  Chief.  He  had 
a  higher  dignity.  At  that  time  the  Creek  nation  was  dominant 
in  the  South,  as  were  the  Iroquois  in  the  North.  The  name 
"Creeks"  arose  from  the  nature  of  the  country  in  which  they 
then  lived,  where  the  waters  of  the  rivers  gathered  together; 
just  as  for  a  long  time  the  Cherokees,  who  lived  in  the  present 
boundaries  of  Tennessee  were  called  "Overhills."  The  Indian 
name  of  the  Creeks  was  the  jNIuscogees.  They  came  as  far  as 
traceable  Srom  Western  Mexico,  and  were  expatriated  by  their 
conflicts  with  the  Spaniards,  during"  their  conquest  of  that 
country,  stating  that  they  could  not  withstand  "men  riding  on 
buffaloes  without  horns,  with  hair  on  their  bodies   (the  Indians 

9 


use  no  beard)  and  thunder  and  lightning-  in  their  hands."  In 
their  transmigration  they  pursued  the  tribe  Alabamas,  down  the 
Red  River,  up  the  ^Mississippi  and  the  Ohio,  beyond  which  river 
they  Hved  as  a  migratory  tribe  at  the  time  DeSoto  made  his 
wonderful  incursion  through  the  South.  Still  following  their 
enemy,  the  Alabamas,  they  drove  them  southward,  through  now 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  whence  the  mound  builders  had  already 
been  extirpated,  until  they  entirely  defeated  and  absorbed  them 
into  the  country  of  the  Creeks,  a  region  of  wonderful  fertility. 
By  such  conquests  the  Creeks  claimed  title  to  what  is  now  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee,  in  addition  to  their  homes  in  and  around 
Alabama.  The  Cherokees,  a  tribe  of  smaller  stature  and  lighter 
complexion,  never  had  title  beyond  the  Tennessee  Rivei.  except 
such  as  would  come  from  predatory  excursions  through  that 
region.     They  were  under  the  domination  of  the  Creeks. 

When  the  boy,  Alexander,  was  thirteen  years  of  age,  his 
father  took  him  from  the  "Hickory  Ground"  to  Charleston,  S  C, 
where  he  placed  him  under  the  tuition  of  a  relative,  the  Rev. 
Farquhar  McGillivray,  a  Mr.  Sheed  and  a  Mr.  William  Hender- 
son, coming  from  the  region  of  his  nativity,  and  all  learned 
Scotchmen,  who  were  by  him  regularly  salaried  for  the  purpose 
of  educating  his  son.  With  the  exception  of  a  short  time,  when 
he  was  in  a  counting  house  in  Savannah  to  learn  the  usages  of 
trade,  he  remained  under  the  tuition  of  these  gentlemen  for  20 
3'ears,  a  studious  and  apt  scholar.  The  ambition  of  his  father 
was  to  make  him  the  most  learned  man  in  America.  It  is  probable 
that  he  did.  He  -was  familiar  with  Hebrew  ;  he  spoke  Latin  and 
Greek  like  a  vernacular ;  was  taken  through  the  learning  of 
philosophy,  matiiematics  and  the  sciences,  and  took  great  de- 
light in  botany.  He  seemed  to  take  much  enjoyment  in  examin- 
ing and  dififerentiating  lichens. 

Let  us  now  move  to  the  year  1776.  The  Revolutionary  war 
is  rife  throughout  the  colonies.  This  young  man — the  most 
polished  and  learned  in  the  metropolis,  is  imbued  with  loyalty 
to  King  George,  and  the  time  is  now  ripe  for  him  to  return  to 
his  boyhood  home  and  his  Kingdom.  He  had  been  long  expected 
by  his  people,  and  they  met  him  with  adoration — far.  far  higher 
than  if  he  had  spent  his  time  among  them.  They  also  knew  that 
he  was  bringing  with  him  the  wdsdom   of  the  while   man,   for 

10 


which  the}-  were  in  ctesperate  need.  L  pon  his  arrival,  in  order 
to  confirm  his  office  without  question,  he  adroitly  ordered  an 
election  throuo:hout  the  tribe  to  confirm  and  strengthen  him  in 
his  title.  It  was  unanimous  in  his  favor.  His  ambition  in  life 
was  already  fixed.  His  first  necessity  was  to  find  a  man  of  mili- 
tary ability  for  his  Chief.  That  man  was  found  in  Colonel 
Leclerc  ]\Iilfort,  a  French  officer  of  high  education  and  military 
ability.  It  required  considerable  finesse  to  have  a  foreigner  made 
chief  military  officer.  It  was  arranged  that  Colonel  iMilfort 
should  marry  the  King's  sister,  Jennette,  which  made  him  Indian, 
and  of  i-oyal  blood,  by  right  of  his  wife.  He  thereupon  took 
charge  of  the  military  department  of  the  Creek  Indians ;  he 
managed  it  with  consummate  skill  and  ability  until  the  death  of 
the  King,  when  he  like  many  other  Europeans,  abandoned  his 
wife  and  children  and  returned  to  France,  where  he  wrote  a 
book  of  his  experiences,  of  high  value  and  authority,  and  after- 
Avards  was  killed  in  battle  in  Austria,  where  Madame  de  Pompa- 
dour was  helping  her  "very  dear  friend,"  Maria  Theresa,  to  regain 
her  dominion  of  Silesia. 

Alexander,  the  King,  now  entered  upon  the  work  of  his  life, 
to  found  and  establish  the  Kingdom  of  Ocmulgee  as  one  of  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  No  map  has  ever  yet  shown  the  boundaries 
of  that  inchoate  kingdom.  Its  capital  was  Flickory  Ground,  now 
within  the  State  of  Alabama ;  its  eastern  boundary  was  to  have 
been  as  far  within  the  State  of  Georgia  as  practicable — say  mid- 
way the  State.  On  the  southern  side  it  was  to  be  bounded  by 
the  Spanish  dominion,  now  the  present  State  of  Florida.  Its 
western  boundary  was  to  have  been  the  Mississippi  River,  at  that 
time  the  French  line.  On  the  north  it  was  to  extend  as  far  as 
practicable,  so  as  to  include  the  States  of  Tennessee  and  Ken- 
tucky. It  was  an  island  of  civilization  entirely  surrounded  by 
hostilities,  where  his  only  hope  of  success  was  rooted  in  the 
chance  of  compelling  his  coterminors  to  throttle  each  other  by 
the  throat.  On  the  east  was  the  United  States,  and  particularly 
the  State  of  Georgia,  with  the  citizens  of  which  he  was  in  con- 
stant conflict,  who,  with  or  without  treaties,  ^vere  constantly  ab- 
sorbing his  bnds.  On  the  south  and  west  were  France  and 
Spain,  whom  he  held  in  check  by  disseminating  animosity  between 
them.     His  greatest  trouble  was  from  the  north,  where  were   the 

11 


Cumberland  and  Watauga  settlements,  Knoxville  then  not  having 
been  christened.  He  saw  with  the  ken  of  a  prophet  that  either 
his  Kingdom  or  the  two  North  Carolina  settlements  must  perish. 
He  early  recognized  the  fact  that  no  treaty  could  protect  him,  and 
that  he  must  make  it  dangerous  for  those  who  would  trespass  into 
his  domain.  He  was  constantly  making  treaties  with  these  ad- 
vancing hordes,  which  he  and  others  looked  upon  as  temporary 
diplomatic  advantages,  but  he  knew,  as  he  frequently  said,  that 
the  contest  would  finally  be  settled  "by  the  best  gun  and  the 
longest  sword."  Under  Colonel  Milfort  the  whole  tribe  was 
taken  into  military  education  and  regularly  drilled,  using  as 
much  civilized  military  tactics  as  were  practicable  with  such  a 
people.  Under  this  discipline  these  Indians  far  exceeded  as 
soldiers  any  others  on  the  Western  Continent,  and  we  have  found 
by  sad  experience  that  they  were  the  best  soldiers  and  the  hard- 
est fighters  of  the  Indians.  Alexander,  the  King,  taught  them 
to  cultivate  lands,  to  own  slaves  and  to  marry  among  the  whites. 
A  marriage  with  a  negro  was  held  to  be  a  disgrace.  Such  an 
Indian  was  driven  or  evolved  out  of  the  tribe,  and  took  refuge 
in  Florida,  where  he  was  known  as  a  Seminole  (which  means 
a  "renegade"),  all  remaining  under  the  acknowledged  authority, 
however,  of  the  King. 

To  properly  understand  the  condition  of  aflfairs  of  the  Creeks 
in  the  year  1776,  two  additional  factors  must  be  noted. 

A  discordant  element  in  McGillivray's  dominions,  and  indeed 
through  all  the  United  States,  was  General  William  Augustus 
Bowles,  a  name  sadly  familiar  to  the  pioneers  of  that  period. 
In  addition  to  his  animosity  to  the  patriots,  he  was  bitter  and 
malignant  against  the  King,  and  harbored  hopes  of  supplanting 
him  in  his  office  and  dignity.  He  had  enlisted  in  King  George's 
army  as  a  tory  from  the  State  of  Maryland,  a  common,  ignorant 
soldier.  By  some  means  he  became  known  to  and  favored  by 
Governor  Dunmore,  of  the  province  of  Virginia.  He  was  a  low, 
heavy  mian  of  extraordinary  natural  endowments,  brave,  bold 
and  shrewd.  Governor  Dunmore  had  captured  a  sailing  vessel 
belonging  to  the  great  merchants,  Panton,  Leslie  &  Company, 
freighted  largely  with  American  silver,  and  had  appropriated 
the  treasure.     Complaint  was   made  to  the   home  government, 

12 


which  ordered  a  restoration  to  be  made.  In  this  circumstance 
was  rooted  a  bitter  feud  and  animosity  on  the  part  tf  the  Gover- 
nor of  Mrginia  against  the  said  firm  of  merchants.  In  a  re- 
tahatory  spirit  he  sent  this  man  Bowles  to  erect  a  rival  store  on 
the  Altamaha  River,  to  break  and  injure  their  current  Indian 
trade.  This  newcomer  soon  affiliated  with  and  married  among 
the  Creeks.  He  was  exceedingly  affable,  was  an  expert  in  all 
their  sports,  and  became  personally  very  popular.  He  always 
remained  a  strong  friend  of  King  George's  cause.  After  he 
had  committed  several  overt  acts  of  treason  against  the  rightful 
King,  and  had  openly  defied  him,  after  the  execution  of  the 
New^  York  treaty,  to  be  hereinafter  mentioned,  McGillivray  made 
a  mysterious  visit  to  New  Orleans,  after  which  a  band  of 
soldiers  was  sent  to  Bowles'  residence,  which  took  him  prisoner 
and  sent  him  to  Castle  Moro  in  Havana,  wdience  he  was  later 
forwarded  to  Spain.  In  a  letter  written  by  President  Washing- 
ton to  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  which  he  speaks  of  and  lauds  McGilli- 
vra}'  for  his  good  work  and  friendship  to  the  State,  he  mentions 
this  news  about  Bowles,  adding  that  he  nad  that  day  been  credibly 
informed  that  Bowles  had  been  hung  in  Spain  —  much.  I 
have  no  doubt,  to  the  ease  of  the  President's  mind.  This,  how- 
ever, was  a  mistake.  Instead  of  being  hung,  Bowles,  by  the 
Spanish  authorities,  was  exported  around  the  cape  to  Manilla, 
and  there  placed  in  close  confinement ;  whence  he  afterwards  made 
his  escape  and  Avent  to  England,  where  he  was  lionized  by  the 
authorities  there ;  and  later  made  his  way  across  the  ocean  to 
Canada,  where  he  lived  for  a  time  as  a  hero  and  finally  returned 
to  the  Creek  Nation,  styling  himself  the  "Director  of  the 
Creeks."  Again  McGillivray  had  him  arrested  and  sent  again 
to  Moro  Castle,  where  he  died  in  the  dungeon — probably  by 
assassination.  This  pretender,  po  often  mentioned  in  history,  was 
always  a  pest  to  everybody,  except  the  English. 

The  other  factor  was  the  said  firm  of  Panton.  Leslie  &  Com- 
pany. William  Panton  was  a  Scotchman,  who  had  come  to  Amer- 
ica much  like  Lachlan  McGillivray,  and  had  organized  and 
developed  the  largest  business  of  merchandise  in  America  before 
or  since.  They  owned  five  sloops  engaged  constantly  in  their 
freightage:  they  had  stores  and  warehouses  on  the  St.  Clary's, 

18 


at  St.  Augustine,  on  the  Altamaha,  at  New  Orleans,  at  Chicka- 
saw Bluff  (now  Memphis),  and  various  dependent  branches, 
one  of  which  was  at  the  "French  Lick"  (now*  Nashville)  on  the 
Sew^anee  River.  Their  principal  store  and  depot  was  at  Pensa- 
cola,  in  Florida.  In  heart,  Pantoni  was  a  confirmed  royalist,  but 
when  in  the  dominions  of  France,  he  was  French,  and  when 
Spain  captured  Pensacola  from  the  English,  he  was  Spanish. 
The  accounts  of  their  business  and  the  extent  of  their  wealth 
seem  almost  to  be  fabulous.  After  the  deaths  of  McGillivray 
and  Panton,  it  was  developed  by  litigation  in  the  United  States 
Court  at  New  Orleans  that  McGillivray,  by  a  secret  contract,  was 
entitled  to  one-third  of  their  profits.  This  firm  was  a  puissant 
factor  in  the  policies  of  the  Southern  States,  tending  everything 
political  and  military  to  getting  and  holding  the  trade  of  the 
Indians. 

During  the  same  year  let  us  take  a  glance  at  the  conditions 
surrounding  what^  is  now  Tennessee.  To  properly  understand 
these  conditions  we  must  go  outside  of  many  of  our  State  his- 
tories which  have  appeared  in  print.  It  is  impossible  for  a  people 
to  understand  history  as  they  make  it ;  it  is  like  considering  a 
range  of  mountains.  To  understand  the  beauty,  the  repose,  the 
strength,  the-  trend,  you  mlist  stand  far  away  from  it.  I  hope 
to  live  until  some  young  Tennessean  shall  rise  with  a  call  to  write 
a  history  of  Tennessee;  no  State  so  rich  in  material,  none  so  neg- 
lected. During  the  war  of  the  Revolution,  our  doughty  fore- 
fathers went  wild  in  enthusiasm  and  affection  for  France  and 
Spain.  We  are  now  beginning  to  learn  that  these  nations  did 
not  want  our  colonies  to  be  free.  In  their  practical  wisdom  they 
dreaded  the  birth  of  a  republic  in  the  New  World.  It  was  in- 
tended and  hoped  that  England  would  finally  coerce  her  colonies 
into  submission,  and  the  contrary  result  was  a  great  surprise  and 
a  Pandora's  Box  for  them.  The  sole  motive  of  each  of  these 
two  governments,  in  their  actions  during  our  Revolutionary  War, 
was  hatred  of  England,  and  not  love  of  America.  I  incline  to 
the  opinion  that  Lafayette  personally  desired  the  success  of  the 
colonies,  and  afterwards  gloried  in  the  result,  but  his  master, 
Louis,  certainly  did  not,  as  may  be  plainly  seen  from  his  instruc- 

14 


tions  lately  brought  to  light.  We  also  now  know  that  a  potent 
factor  in  the  conclusion  reached  by  England  in  abandoning  the 
struggle  was  a  hope  that  the  colonies  in  process  of  time,  by  action 
and  example,  would  work  the  death  of  those  two  governments 
in  the  Xew  World,  and  at  the  same  time  strengthen  her  own. 
In  the  one  hundred  years  that  problem  has  now  worked  out 
its  solution.  In  accordance  with  this  general  situation,  the  early 
writers  of  Tennessee  history,  industrious  and  crude,  only  recorded 
the  turnings  of  the  little  wheels,  without  finding  the  main  springs 
that  furnished  the  force  that  made  these  little  wheels  go  round. 
The  burthen  of  all  their  labors  is  to  demonstrate  that  the  prime 
object  of  Spain,  France  and  England  was  the  destruction  of  the 
Watauga  and  Cumberland  settlements.  I  am  satisfied  that 
Alexander  McGillivray  was  the  mainspring  of  all  these  move- 
ments. 

The  general  war  was  begun  and  waged  along  the  Atlantic 
Coast.  The  settlers  of  Tennessee,  far  beyond  the  mountains, 
w'ere  in  warm  and  active  sympathy  with  the  patriots,  and  several 
times,  without  pay  or  emolument,  crossed  the  mountains  in  aid 
of  that  cause,  and  finally  at  King's  Mountain,  turned  the  tide 
in  favor  of  American  Independence.  A  few  tories  drifted  among 
them,  as  they  drifted  all  along  the  frontiers  of  the  United  States, 
but  their  presence  in  this  particular  spot  raised  such  a  commo- 
tion that  they  were  put  down  with  unfailing  and  prompt  force, 
thereby  causing  much  notoriety,  from  which  several  shallow 
writers  have  been  persuaded  that  these  settlements  were  nests 
of  tories.  In  other  places,  their  presence  went  without  notice, 
and  no  historical  criticism  has  been  made.  Although  for 
many  years  France  had  been  the  principal  owner  of  North 
America,  yet  by  the  treaty  of  Paris  in  1767  she  ceded  her  right 
to  England  up  to  the  ^lississippi  River,  and  west  of  that  river 
to  Spain.  The  latter  domain  was  later  recovered  by  her.  The 
tenure  which  held  the  States  together  under  the  Confederation 
was  exceedingly  frail. 

The  men  of  the  frontiers  then  had  a  custom  to  furnish  their 
own  government,  or  go  without  it.  The  attachment  of  the 
seaboard  to  the  mountain  region  was  feeble  because  of  the  ex- 
pense and  annoyance  of  protection.     As  to  these  settlements  the 

15 


grand  motives  of  France  and  Spain,  especially  the  latter,  in  the 
light  of  which  every  political  act  will  be  seen  to  have  been  con- 
sistent, were :  first,  to  have  a  dismemberment  of  the  Missis- 
sippi valley  from  the  Atlantic  States,  or,  failing  in  this.  Second :  to 
entice  the  citizens  to  cross  the  Father  of  Waters  and  become 
loyal  and  prosperous  subjects  of  His  Most  Catholic  Majesty.  A 
third  scheme  also  existed  on  the  part  of  the  pioneers,  to  forcibly 
capture,  on  private  account,  more  or  less  of  the  territory  of  Spain. 
There  is  no  doubt  but  that  one  or  more  of  these  schemes-  was 
favorably  considered  by  our  prominent  pioneers.  ]\Iany  of  them 
removed  beyond  the  Mississippi  for  final  settlement.  Aaron 
Burr,  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  dangerous  Americans,  as  was 
charged,  contemplated  an  attempt  under  one  of  these  schemes, 
and  came  to  dishonor.  Sam  Houston  afterwards  invaded  Texas 
and  wrested  it  from  Mexico,  successor  to  Spain,  and  was  after- 
wards received  with  adulation  as  a  member  of  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States,  which  had  at  an  earlier  date  expelled  ^^'illiam 
Blount  on  the  charge  of  planning  a  similar  enterprise.  Some  day 
some  Senator  of  Tennessee  wall  win  renown  by  an  effort  to 
have  that  resolution  of  expulsion  expunged.  As  now  understood, 
it  was  gross  injustice.  Both  France  and  Spain,  especially  the 
latter,  did  much  to  injure  the  settlements  in  now^  Tennessee,  but 
primarily  they  had  no  motive  to  work  to  their  disadvantage,  and 
were  driven  to  this  conduct  by  the  pressure  from  IMcGillivray. 

There  is  a  natural  love  in  the  white  man  for  land.  He  knows 
that  out  of  its  dust  he  was  formed ;  out  of  it  comes  his  sub- 
sistence, and  into  its  breast  he  wall  be  received.  In  early  times 
many  of  the  prominent  men,  from  Washington  down,  were  prac- 
tical surveyors.  An  English  sa'tirist  has  written  that  "all  of  the 
rebel  generals  were  either  common  surveyors  or  tavern  keepers." 
The  claim  of  the!  wdiite  man  to  the  land  of  Tennessee  is  derived 
from  a  charter  made  by  Charles  H.  of  England,  given  as  a  re- 
ward to  five  of  his  court  favorites  in  London.  The  northern  line 
of  North  Carolina  w^as  recited  to  begin  at  a  white  stake  at  Curri- 
tuck Inlet  on  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  north  .^6  degrees  30  minutes; 
thence  west  to  the  South  Seas.  His  right  to  make  such  a  deed 
was,  to  say  the  least,  under  the  law  of  nations,  very  questionable. 
By  treaty  afterwards,  the  South  Seas  were  located  at  the  Mis- 


sissippi  River.  It  is  further  claimed  that  Colonel  Johnson,  an 
English  officer,  at  Fort  Stanwix  in  New  York  (now  Rome), 
made  a  treaty  with  the  Five  Nations,  by  which  they  ceded  to 
the  King-  all  their  lands  north  and  east  of  the  Cherokee,  now 
Tennessee  River.  Inasmuch  as  it  is  highly  probable  that  none  of 
these  bargainers  had  ever  set  foot  in  Tennessee  or  Kentucky,  it 
is  difficult  to  trace  this  claim  to  anything  valid.  The  best  support 
given  in  favor  of  it  is  an  affidavit  made  by  an  Indian  Agent 
named  Crogan  that  some  Cherokees  attended  that  treaty  at  Fort 
Stanwix,  and  delivered  to  the  Five  Nations  some  skins,  which 
they  had  carried  with  them,  stating  that  they  had  killed  the  game 
north  of  the  Big  River,  and  that  the  skins  belonged  to  them. 
\^'hat  title  Charles  11.  had,  as  stated  above,  ])assed  to  North  Caro- 
lina, and  this  was  ceded  by  the  treaty  of  peace  to  the  United 
States. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Indians  never  bad  any  conception  of 
the  individual  ownership  of  land,  any  more  than  the  white 
man  now  has  of  the  ownership  of  the  Tennessee  River  or  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  Their  idea  was  that  the  land  belonged  to  the 
tribe,  but  that  any  portion  of  it  could  be  used  as  necessities  might 
demand,  until  abandonment,  when  it  could  be  taken  by  the  next 
comer.  The  Muscogees  claimed  that  no  such  statement  had  ever 
been  made  by  strolling  Cherokees  at  Fort  Stanwix,  but  that 
if  made,  it  was  not  effective  to  pass  title  to  the  land.  They 
furthermore  claimed  that  the  Cherokees  had  no  right  to  lands 
north  of  the  Tennessee  River,  and  that  they  had  come  up  from 
Florida  and  had  never  gone  beyond  the  "Overhill"  settlement, 
while  they,  on  the  other  hand,  had  driven  the  Uchees  and  Ala- 
bamas  from  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  as  we  now  know  them,  into 
Alabama,  when  they  disappeared  by  absorption  and  assimila- 
tion ;  and  thereby  that  the  area  of  those  States  belonged  to  them 
by  conquest. 

There  was  direct  conflict  as  to  most  of  the  proposed  King- 
dom of  Ocmulgee  between  McGillivray  and  the  State  of  Georgia, 
which  claimed  the  land  westward  to  the  Mississippi  River,  down 
to  the  Florida  line,  which  line  continually  floated  up  and  down 
the  continent.  In  order  to  strengthen  her  contested  right  she 
granted  most  of  this   land  to  citizens   for  homes,   so   that   they 

17 


might  possess  the  same.  She  granted  many  millions  of  acres  to 
the  Yazoo  Company,  so  prolific  of  political  scandal  in  our  early 
history.  For  many  years  it  was  the  keenest  reproach  to  charge 
one  with  being"  a  "Yazoo  man."  She  also  issued  a  three  million 
grant  to  the  Tennessee  Company,  composed  of  Cox  and  associ- 
ates, in  which  Governor  Sevier  was  involved,  in  the  northern 
portion  of  ^Alabama,  bounded  on  the  north  by  the  Tennessee 
River. 

JMcGillivray  soon  saw  that  it  was  a  case  of  political  life  and 
death  with  his  Kingdom.  He  was  in  continual  broil  with  the 
Georgians  on  the  east,  who  were  settling  on  his  lands,  and  whom 
he  was  scalping;  but  his  greatest  danger  w^as  from  the  Cum- 
berland and  Watauga  settlements.  As  against  these  he  went  to 
New  Orleans  and  held  a  conference  with  the  officers  of  the 
French  and  Spanish  governments  and  entered  into  secret  treaties, 
lately  revealed,  that  these  settlements  were  to  be  extirpated. 
While  getting  assistance  and  influence  for  this  result,  he  al -o 
undertook  the  task  to  disseminate  animosities  and  enmities  be- 
tween the  English,  French  and  Spanish,  while  he,  as  much  as 
was  within  his  power,  would  remain  in  apparent  peace  with  all. 
He  sent  trusted  emissaries  north,  south,  east,  and  west;  he 
watched  with  concern  the  growing  animosity  in  Georgia,  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee  with  the  United  States ;  he  incited  and 
watched  the  machinations  of  Spain  against  the  Western  settle- 
rrnents,  and  the  conflicts  between  France  and  Spain,  on  the  one 
side,  and  England  on  the  other.  He  inaugurated  and  maintained 
voluminous  correspondence  with  the  representatives  of  all  the  sur- 
rounding governments,  in  which  he,  as  a  friend  of  each  par- 
ticular one,  manifested  amazing  shrewdness,  capability  and  di- 
plomacy. During  his  whole  career  with  most  of  his  correspond- 
ents he  inspired  and  maintained  confidence,  with  the  exception,  so 
far  as  is  known  of  three  men — John  Sevier,  of  East  Tennessee, 
Andrew  Pickens,  of  South  Carolina,  and  James  Robertson,  of  the 
Cumberland.  The  latter,  to  placate  his  friendship  sent  two  mes- 
sengers to  him  from  Nashville — Andrew  Ewin  and  James 
Hoggart,  to  interview  and  sound  him  as  to  his  purposes,  at  his 
capital  at  Cusseta.     Hoggart  was  completely  captivated  by  him, 


18 


but  Ewin  returned  home   burdened    with    suspicion.     Robertson 
had  sent  by  them  as  a  present  a  fine  silver  mounted  rifle. 

Having  been  unable  to  obtain  a  personal  interview  with  Andrew 
Pickens,  of  South  Carolina,  he  addressed  him  a  letter,  wdiich  is 
entitled  to  be  graded  as  a  State  paper.  A  quotation  from  it  is 
as  follows  : 

"How  the  boundar)'  and  limits  between  the  Spaniards  and  the 
"States  will  be  determined,  a  little  while  will  show,  as  I  beHeve 
"that  matter  is  now  01:1  foot.  However,  we  know  our  limits  and 
"the  extent  of  our  hunting  grounds.  As  a  free  nation,  w'e  have 
"applied,  as  we  had  a  right  to  do.  for  protection,  and  obtained  it. 
"We  shall  pay  no  attention  to  any  limits  that  may  prejudice  our 
"claims,  that  were  drawn  by  an  American  and  confirmed  by  a 
"British  negotiator;  yet,  notwithstanding  we  have  been  obliged 
"to  adopt  these  measures  for  our  preservation  and  our  real  ne- 
"cessitv,  we  sincerely  wish  to  have  it  in  our  power  to  be  on  the 
"same  footing  with  the  States  as  before  the  late  unhappy  war, 
"to  effect  which  is  entirely  within  our  power.  We  want  nothing 
"from  you  but  justice.  We  want  our  hunting  grounds  preserved 
"from  encroachments.  They  have  been  ours  from  the  be- 
"ginning  of  time,  and  we  will  maintain  them  against  everv  attempt 
"that  will  be  made  to  take  them  from  us." 

General  James  White,  of  Knoxville,  having  been  appointed  by 
congress  Superintendent  of  the  Creek  Indians,  entered  into  ne- 
gotiations wath  this  King,  from  whom,  on  the  8th  of  April,  1787, 
he  received  the  following  in  reference  to  the  disputed  boundary 
line  in  Georgia : 

"There  are  chiefs  of  two  towns  in  this  nation,  who.  during  the 
"late  war.  were  friendly  to  the  State  of  Georgia,  and  had  gone 
"at  different  times  among  those  people,  and  once,  after  the  gen- 
"eral-  peace,  to  Augusta.  Thev  there  demanded  of  tliem  a  grant 
"of  lands  belonging  to  and  enjoyed  as  hunting  grounds  by  the 
"Indians  of  this  natio  ,  in  common,  on  the  east  of  the  Oconee 
"River.  The  chiefs  rejected  the  demands  of  the  people  that  those 
"lands  were  the  hunting  grounds  of  the  nation,  and  should  not 
"be  granted  by  two  individuals,  but  a  promise  was  extorted  from 
"them  that  on  a  return  to  our  country  they  would  use  their  in- 
"fluence  to  get  the  grant  confirmed.  Upon  their  return,  a  general 
"convention  was  held  at  Tookabatcha,  when  these  two  chiefs  were 

19 


"severely  censured  and  the  chiefs  of  98  towns  agreed  upon  a 
"talk  to  be  sent  to  Savannah,  disapproving  in  the  strongest  man- 
"ner  of  the  demand  made  upon  their  nation,  and  denying  the 
"right  of  any  two  of  their  country  to  make  concession  of  land, 
"which  could  only  be  valid  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  whole 
"as  joint  proprietors  in  common.  Yet  these  two  chief s.regardless 
"of  the  voice  of  the  nation,  continued  to  go  to  Augusta  and 
"other  places  within  the  State.  They  received  presents  and 
"made  promises.  We  warned  the  Georgians  of  the  dangerous 
"consequences  that  would  certainly  attend  the  settling  of  the 
"lands  in  question,  but  these  lands  were  soon  filled  with 
"settlers.  The  nation,  justly  alarmed  at  the  encroachments,  re- 
"solved  to  use  force  to  maintain  their  rights,  but.  being  averse 
"to  the  shedding  of  the  blood  of  a  people  whom  we  would  rather 
"consider  as  friends,  we  made  another  effort  to  awaken  in  them 
"a  sense  of  justice  and  equity,  but  we  found  from  experience  that 
"entreaties  could  not  prevail,  and  bands  of  warriors  were  sent  to 
"drive  off  the  intruders,  and  were  instructed  to  shed  blood  only 
"where  self  preservation  made  it  necessary. 

"I  aspire  to  the  honest  ambition  of  meriting  the  appellation  of 
"a  preserver  of  my  country,  equally  with  the  chiefs  among  you. 
"whom,  from  acting  on  such  principles,  you  have  exalted  to  the 
"highest  pitch  of  glory;  and  if,  after  every  possible  effort  made 
"to  obtain  redress  of  grievances  should  prove  fruitless,  a  re- 
"course  to  arms  to  obtain  it  be  a  mark  of  the  subject  and  not 
"of  the  soldier — Avhat  subjects  must  the  Americans  be,  and  how 
"much  undeserved  applause  have  your  Cincinnatus  and  your 
"Fabius  obtained  ?  If  a  better  name  had  been  necessary  in  such 
"a  case  to  distinguish  that  Chief,  'The  ;Man  Killer,'  or  'Great 
"Destroyer'  would  have  been  the  proper  appellation." 

In  a  letter  sent  by  these  same  two  messengers,  Hoggart  and 
Ewin,  James  Robertson,  in  all  complaisance,  stated  to  the  King 
that  he  had  had  the  satisfaction  of  registering  to  him  a  deed  for  a 
town  lot  in  Xashville.  and  requesting  to  know  his  pleasure, 
whether  or  not  he  should  enter  in  his  name  two  or  three  tracts  of 
fine  land.  The  good  old  pioneer  was  petting  the  tiger  before  he 
should  spring. 

McGillivray  made  many  treaties  with  the  United  States  solemnly 
defining  the  boundaries  of  his  dominions,  and  guaranteeing  to 

■      20 


his  nation  the  land  forever,  but  these  treaties  brought  him  no 
peace  or  rehef.  The  settlers  invariably  crossed  the  line  and 
made  their  homes.  Sometimes  they  had  the  warrant  of  State 
grants,  and  sometimes  they  had  nothing.  The  influence  of  Wash- 
ington and  his  cabinet,  congress  and  officials,  was  generally 
exerted  in  favor  of  the  observance  of  these  treaties,  but  with- 
out avail.  In  Lexington,  Kentucky,  Washington  was  burned  in 
efifigy;  in  Georgia  he  was  denounced  in  a  placard  nailed  upon  a 
tree.  In  fact,  there  arose  a  judicial  conflict  in  that  State  that 
almost  amounted  to  a  conflict  in  arms  with  the  General  Gov- 
ernment. Washington,  in  his  perplexities,  seriously  contemplated 
settling  the  whole  matter  by  declaring  war  against  the  Creeks, 
as  was  done  at  a  later  date,  but  the  treasury  was  so  depleted 
that  he  was  compelled  to  resort  to  diplomacy.  Rather  than  have 
war,  McGillivray  was  entreated  by  letter  and  by  special  mes- 
senger, again  and  again,  to  adjust  the  matter  in  some  way  by 
agreement,  so  as  to  stop  the  flow  of  blood.  Personal  conferences 
were  requested  of  him  at  times  and  places,  and  the  commission- 
ers were  kept  waiting  to  meet  him  for  months  and  months  with- 
out his  appearance.  In  describing  this  condition  he  wrote  to  his 
friend  Panton : 

"In  this  do  you  not  see  my  cause  of  triumph  in  bringing  these 
"conquerors  of  the  Old  and  the  masters  of  the  New  World,  as 
"they  call  themselves,  to  bend  and  supplicate  for  peace  at  the 
"feet  of  a  people  whom  shortly  before  they  despised  and  marked 
"out  for  destructior>  - 

After  repeated  and  persistent  efforts  Governor  Blount,  from 
Knoxville,  finally  prevailed  upon  him.  representing  all  antagonism 
to  the  white  people,  to  meet  at  Knoxville  for  a  grand  treaty,  on 
the  2nd  of  July,  1791.  To  this  McGillivray  assented,  and  drilled 
his  representatives  over  and  over  again  as  to  their  duties,  and  the 
treaty  was  accordingly  held.  The  place  was  at  the  mouth  of  First 
Creek  in  that  city,  and  was  arranged  with  all  of  the  pomposity 
which  the  courtly  Blount  could  devise.  In  many  respects  it  was 
the  most  important  treaty  ever  made  between  the  whites  and  the 
Indians.  Every  effort  was  made  to  impress  upon  the  large  at- 
tendance of  Indians  the  importance  and  dignity  of  the  occasion. 
A  temporary  throne  was  erected  under  a  canopy  on  the  banks, 
of  the  river,  upon  which  Governor  Blount,  as  the  representative 

21 


of  the  United  States,  was  seated.  Trooper  Armstrong-  was 
Chamberlain  of  the  occasion.  Carpets  were  spread  upon  the  sur- 
rounding space.  Armstrong-  led  the  chiefs,  man  by  man,  into 
the  presence  of  his  Excellency,  and  presented  them  respectively, 
with  an  account  of  his  dignity  and  deeds  of  heroism.  After  these 
prolix  ceremonies  had  ended,  they  entered  into  a  negotiation  for 
a  settlem;ent  of  the  troubles  existing  between  the  two  parties. 
The  instructions  drilled  into  the  Indian  representatives  by  the 
master  mind  of  McGillivray  was  that  they  should  reclaim  as  much 
of  the  land  towards  Kentucky  as  they  might  be  able,  and  to  have 
a  positive  and  solemn  treaty  that  the  boundaries  should  forever 
remain  inviolable.  The  treaty  was  finally  concluded,  by  the  terms 
of  which  the  Indians  were  entirely  successful,  and  Governor 
Blount  w^a§  over-matched.  J\Iost  of  the  territory  w^as  then  occu- 
pied by  actual  settlers;  yet  it  was  solemnly  agreed  that  all  por- 
tions of  that  territory  between  Southwest  Point  (now  Kingston) 
and  the  mouth  of  the  Duck  River,  extending  northward  to  the 
Kentucky  line,  a  large  part  of  the  present  State  of  Tennessee, 
should  be  surrendered  back  to  the  Indians  and  remain  their  terri- 
tory inviolable  forever ;  that  the  settlers  located  thereupon  should 
be  made  to  remove,  and  upon  failure,  that  the  Indians  should 
have  license  to  remove  them.  These  settlers  had  regular  grants 
for  such  lands  from  the  State  of  North  Carolina.  The  treaty 
also  included  within  its  cession  the  millions  of  acres  that  had  been 
granted  by  the  State  o'f  Georgia  to  the  Tennessee  Company, 
known  as  "Cox  &  Company,"  in  which  many  of  the  settlers  in 
now  East  Tennessee  were  interested.  For  the  settlement  of^ 
these  domains  much  elaborate  preparation  had  been  made.  On  the 
confluents  of  the  Tennessee  many  boats  had  been  built,  and 
parties  organized  to  float  down  to  this  territory  for  the  purpose 
of  permanent  settlement.  In  this  scheme  were  many  of  the  pi- 
oneers of  this  country,  notably  as  a  leading  spirit,  Andrew^  Jack- 
son, of  subsequent  renown.  His  ambition  and  purpose  w-as  to 
locate  and  promote  upon  it  a  metropolis  of  the  South,  and  to' 
that  end  a  site  was  selected  and  surveys  made  for  a  great  metro- 
politan citv  christened  "York  Blufif."  It  was  at  the  crossing  of 
the  great  highway  from  the  North  to  the  South  over  the  Tenn- 
essee River,  and  "is  now  the  present  site  of  the  city  of  Sheffield, 
in  the  State  of  Alabaiim.     This  was  the  first    "boom    town"    m 

22 


America,  the  plot  of  which,  in  the  handwriting^  and  demarcation 
of  Andrew  Jackson,  is  at  Tnscnmbia,  Alabama. 

This  important  treaty  was  confirmed  by  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States,  the  announcement  of  which,  as  should  have  been 
expected,  met  with  an  outburst  of  denunciation  upon  the  part 
of  the  settlers  of  the  country  involved.  They  had  been  literally 
cut  off  from  civilization,  and  surrendered  apparently  to  certain 
destruction. 

Governor  Blount,  prompt  to  carry  into  execution  the  theories 
and  conclusions  indulg-ed  in  and  arrived  at  by  the  President  and 
his  cabinet,  issued  his  proclamation  Avarning  the  settlers  to  take 
no  part  in  the  settlement  of  the  territory  granted  by  the  State 
of  Georgia — definitely  announcing  that  the  Creek  Indians  had 
govermental  authority  to  remove  any  such  settlers,  which  meant 
scalps  and  deaths.  Upon  the  promulgation  of  this  proclamation, 
much  to  the  disgust  of  John  Sevier  and  James  Robertson,  this 
proposed  settlement  was  abandoned,  and  the  glowing  prophecies 
as  to  "York  Bluff"  reached  no  further  than  paper.  As  you  will 
recall,  the  ambition  of  Jackson  to  found  such  a  city,  afterwards 
located  at  iNIem.phis,  then  "Chickasaw  Bluff',"  but  partlv  on  the 
ground  of  delay  of  developing,  was  afterwards  as  a  metropolis 
outrun  bv  St.  Louis  and  later  by  Chicago. 

Notwithstanding  this  treaty,  the  incessant  efforts  of  Mc- 
Gillivray  were  towards  destruction  of  the  Watauga  and  .Cumber- 
land settlemients,  and  by  virtue  of  his  absolute  control  of  the  In- 
dian trade,  the  officers  of  Spain  and  France  were  bent  to  that 
purpose.  While  it  was  impossible  for  Colonel  Leclerc  Milfort 
to  organize  and  conduct  the  military  force  so  far  distant  from  the 
base  of  supplies,  as  the  next  best  means  he  directed  countless 
hordes  of  marauding  bands  of  Indians  to  infest  and  devastate  the 
country.  Such  warfare  was  waged  for  many  years,  with  murder, 
rapine  and  desolation  in  its  train.  Nearly  all  of  the  original 
settlers  and  their  children  sooner  or  later  were  killed.  The  of- 
ficers of  France  in  the  North  and  of  Spain  in  the  South  and  West 
contributed  such  aid  as  they  were  able  in  this  predatory  warfare. 
The  earliest  histories  of  Tennessee  go  no  further  than  to  detail 
the  disasters  that  followed  this  plan,  comprising  unnumbered 
deaths  and  captivities.  The  settlers,  headed  by  Sevier  and  Rob- 
ertson, well  knew  from  their  experience  that  relief  could  only 


come  from  an  invasion  into  the  Creek  territory.  Such  wars  must 
always  be  carried  "into  Africa."  However,  they  were  solemnly 
cautioned  by  the  Secretary  of  \\"ar,  through  Governor  Blount, 
again  and  again  to  take  no  active  measures  against  the  Indians, 
except  in  self-defense,  and  by  no  means  to  cross  the  boundary 
lines ;  that  is,  if  a  few  marauding  Indians  should  murder  a  house- 
hold, men  might  gather  and  pursue  them  to  the  treaty  lines,  and 
then  return,  empty,  home.  Such  restrictions  in  the  face  of 
common  prudence  irritated  the  settlers  beyond  endurance.  John 
Sevier  always  professed  great  tenderness  for  the  forms  of  law, 
but  never  allowed  them  to  swerve  his  conduct.  He  always  at- 
tacked the  enemy  when  he  saw  it  was  necessary,  notwithstanding 
anything  which  some  man  in  the  East  had  written  and  agreed 
to.  In  reference  to  a  prevalent  sentimentality  in  favor  of  "Lo! 
the  poor  Indian."  his  mouthword  was  that  he  thought  it  was 
''very  wrong  to  kill  the  Indian  and  after  you  are  certain  you 
have  done  it,  you  should  be  sorry." 

How  those  old  settlers  fretted  and  chafed  under  such  restric- 
tions can  never  be  appreciated.  In  the  depths  of  despair.  General 
Robertson  wrote  to  John  Sevier  an  account  of  the  condition  of 
the  Cumberland  settlement,  and  appealed  to  him  for  instant  aid 
and  succor.  He  told  him  how  these  marauding  bands  of  In- 
dians were  continually  infesting  the  country ;  how  they  had  killed 
most  of  the  pioneers  with  whom  he  was  acquainted ;  how  his  own 
house  had  been  attacked  and  his  son  shot  down  under  his  own  eye, 
and  how,  under  the  regulations  of  the  Knoxville  treaty,  they  could 
only  wait  for  other  attacks.  The  letter  reached  John  Sevier 
at  Southwest  Point  (now  Kingston),  where  he  was  a  refugee 
from  the  collapse  of  the  State  of  Franklin;  but  such  an  appeal 
to  such  a  man  could  not  be  fruitless  in  such  a  cause.  Sevier 
did  not  write  to  him  that  he  had  troubles  of  his  own  in  his 
immediate  front,  and  that  the  State  of  Franklin,  of  which  he 
was  the  executive  head,  was  in  the  pangs  of  dissolution,  and  that 
he  was  at  that  time  a  refugee  from  the  form/s  of  law,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  he  wrote  him  that  he  would  organize  a  band  of  1,500 
men  and  strike  such  blows  as  would  give  him  relief.  This  was 
done  as  expeditiously  as  men  could  be  gathered  in  a  frontier 
situation,  and  without   orders,  without,  pay,  and  contrary  to  law, 

24 


he  crossed  the  treaty  Hnes  and  destroyed  some  36  towns  of  the 
enemy  as  far  south  and  west  as  is  now  Rome,  Georgia.  Such 
movements  very  much  lessened,  but  did  not  entirely  abate  the 
danger.  For  many  years,  every  day  was  a  day  of  life  and  death 
to  the  settlers.  Spies  and  troops  were  continually  on  the  move 
for  warning  and  defending. 

Robertson,  being  no  longer  able  to  withstand  the  storm  in  his 
region,  organized  a  force  in  Middle  Tennessee  and  pursued  the 
Indians  from  one  of  their  raids  to  one  of  their  towns,  known 
as  Cold  Water,  now  the  city  o'f  Tuscumbia,  Alabama.  He  destroyed 
that  town  and  slaughtered  the  men,  women  and  children. 
Upon  his  return,  fearing  that  he  might  have  ofif ended  the  French, 
he  wrote  a  conciliatory  letter  to  Colonel  Cruzat,  the  French  of- 
ficer in  the  Illinois  country,  bewailing  that  in  the  attack  upon 
Cold  Water  some  French  traders  had  been  killed,  but  explain- 
ing that  three  boat  loads  of  their  goods,  which  had  been  cap- 
tured, had  been  preserved,  and  upon  proof  that  they  were  not 
contraband  of  war,  would  be  delivered  to  him.  The  French  officer 
cared  nothing  for  the  matter  unless  the  King  of  Ocmulgee  would 
take  it  up.  Such  an  expedition  was  in  the  teeth  of  the  orders  of 
Henry  Knox,  Secretary  of  War,  and  William  Blount,  Governor 
of  the  Territory.  On  the  report  of  this  expedition,  the  Governor 
was  filled  with  shame  and  regret,  and  immediately  summoned 
Robertson  to  Knoxville,  and  upon  a  conference  held  upon  that 
subject,  James  Robertson  tendered  his  resignation  as  a  Brigadier 
General  of  the  United  States  Army. 

At  that  time  it  was  well  understood  in  this  Western  World 
that  either  our  settlements  or  AIcGillivray's  Kingdom  were  to 
go  down.  The  pioneers,  especially  Robertson,  entered  into  a 
course  of  dalUance  and  diplomacy  with  McGillivray,  and  with 
the  officers  of  France  and  Spain  which  surrounded  us.  Robertson 
always  regarded  McGillivray  with  supreme  distrust  and  sus- 
picion, although  the  correspondence  between  them  was  appar- 
ently of  the  most  cordial  nature.  His  single  mistake  was  a  con- 
firmed idea  that  he  was  being  oppressed  by  the  Enghsh  and 
French  officers,  as  his  letters,  now  in  the  Historical  Society  at 
Nashville,  show  'that  he  was  continually  trying  to  placate  them. 
He  regarded  the  occlusion  of  the  Mississippi  River  at  Natchez 

25 


as  an  act  of  hostility  to  the  settlers.  It  was  a  burning  sensation 
in  the  log  cabin  town  of  Knoxville,  and  was  afterwards  reported 
from  tliat  place  to  the  First  Consul  of  the  French  by  an  emissary 
sent  to  reconnoitre.  That  action  was  not  intended  to  be  an  act 
of  hostility  to  the  pioneers,  but  one  of  hostility  against  the 
United  States.  It  was  a  temptation  to  the  Western  settlements 
to  separate  themselves  from  the  seaboard,  or  in  case  of  failure,  to 
seduce  them  to  remove  across  the  river  and  become  citizens  of 
Spain.  Public  opinion  on  the  seaboard  did  not  support  the  settlers 
in  their  desire  for  the  free  use  of  the  river.  There  was  a  wide- 
spread preference  that  these  back  men  should  be  forced  to  send 
their  trade  to  the  seaboard,  to  New  York,  to  Philadelphia,  to  Bal- 
timore, rather  than  to  enrich  the  Spaniards  at  New  Orleans. 
Such  desires  were  later  accomplished  by  means  of  the  railroads. 
There  was  a  time  when  the  Eastern  States  were  willing  to  ex- 
change the  claim  for  a  free  navigation  on  the  Mississippi  River 
for  a  paltry  right  to  fish  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland. 

This  trouble  with  the  Creek  Indians  where  the  pioneers  would 
not  be  bound  by  solemn  treaties,  nor  the  advice  of  Washington 
and  his  cabinet,  and  Thomas  Jefferson  and  William  Blount  and 
John  Jay,  gave  the  President  lasting  concern.  By  means  of 
letters  and  gifts,  supported  by  a  special  confidential  m,essenger, 
he  finally  succeeded  in  inducing  McGillivray  to  agree  to  go  to 
New  York,  the  then  seat  of  Government,  for  a  personal  inter- 
view. Such  action,  with  a  prospect  of  pacification,  was  hailed 
with  delight  throughout  the  United  States.  Shortly  before  taking 
this  masquerade,  as  the  great  friend  of  the  white  man,  McGilH- 
vray  gratified  himself  by  writing  to  his  friend  Panton  that  a 
body  of  his  soldiers  had  lately  gathered  a  few  straggling  Cherokees 
and  attacked  an  expedition  of  Franklinites,  allowing  only  three 
men  to  escape,  and  expressed  the  hope  that  by  such  means  the 
coming  of  peace  would  be  hastened. 

With  much  pomp  and  ceremony,  McGillivray,  accompanied  by 
thirty  of  his  principal  chiefs,  began  their  journey  as  special 
favorites  of  the  President.  Their  progress  was  anticipated  and 
greeted  all  along  the  way  as  friends  of  the  United  States.  At 
that  very  time  his  hordes  were  murdering  and  scalping  men,  w^o- 
men    and    children   in    Middle   and    East   Tennessee.      Countless 

26 


throngs  gathered  to  greet  him  in  his  progress.  Every  night's 
camping  place  gave  him  an  ovation.  At  Guilford  House,  N.  C. 
(now  Greensboro),  while  a  ceremonial  reception  was  being 
tendered  to  him,  a  Mrs.  Brown,  of  that  neighborhood,  broke 
through  the  throng,  embraced  his  knees,  convulsing  the  audience 
with  emotion,  and  stated  to  the  listening  spectators  that  he  was 
her  saviour,  and  that  he  had  ransomed  her  and  her  children 
from  the  Creeks  and  sent  them  home  in  safety.  This  good  lady, 
afterwards  drawn  into  the  current  of  the  Western  tide,  settled 
at  the  mouth  of  White  creek,  near  Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  lived 
to  a  highly  respected  old  age. 

At  Richmond,  Virginia,  delay  had  to  be  taken  to  partake  of  a 
celebration  of  several  days ;  the  same  thing  occurred  at  Fredericks- 
burg. At  Philadelphia  three  days  were  in  a  like  manner  con- 
sumed. The  party  left  their  horses  at  Elizabeth  and  crossed  to 
New  York  in  boats,  where  the  then  new  Tammany  Society,  in 
the  full  dress  of  their  order,  received  these  heroes  in  splendor, 
and  marched  them  up  Wall  street  by  the  Federal  Hall,  where 
congress  was  then  in  session,  to  the  house  of  the  President,  who 
met  them  as  they  were  introduced,  man  by  man,  with  all  high 
ceremony.  The  party  then  visited  Henry  Knox,  the  Minister  of 
War,  and  Governor  Clinton,  where  a  sumptuous  and  elegant  en- 
tertainment at  the  City  Tavern  finished  the  day.  The  members 
of  Tammany  Hall,  including  the  Sachems  and  Sagamores,  were 
costumed  in  the  paraphernalia  of  Indians,  with  horse  tails,  orna- 
ments and  paint,  to  honor  this  greatest  Indian  King,  to  an  ex- 
tent far  beyond  a  "one  dollar  plate"  or  a  "twelve  dollar  plate" 
banquet.  After  the  ceremonies  had  consumed  several  days,  dur- 
ing all  of  which  McGillivray  was  affable  and  observant,  the 
sharpest  intellects  of  the  nation  met  him  in  diplomacy  to  conclude 
the  treaty  of  August  7,  1791,  which  has  become  a  landmark  in 
history. 

The  terms  of  that  treaty  will  forever  testify  of  the  ability  and 
shrewdness  of  McGillivray.  It  was  solemnly  agreed  that  the 
Oconee  River  should  forever  remain  a  permanent  boundary  be- 
tween the  Creeks  and  the  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  that 
the  citizens  on  ithe  one  part  should  not  cross  the  same  without 
the  consent  of  the  other. 

27 


This  treaty  was  afterwards  confirmed  by  the  United  States  Sen- 
ate, and  became  in  law  the  permanent  eastern  boundary  of  the 
Kingdom  of  Ocmulgee.  It  was  therein  agreed  that  the  title  of 
the  Creeks  to  the  country  which  they  occupied  should  forever  be 
held  sacred  and  invincible  by  the  United  States  of  America ;  in 
addition  to  which  a  certain  sum  of  money  should  be  paid  to  each 
of  the  attending  chiefs,  and  a  yearly  stipend  forever  thereafter. 
and  that  the  people  should  remain  forever  at  peace. 

So  much  was  fair  and  favorable  to  McGillivray,  but  at  the  same 
time  and  place  a  secret  treaty  was  entered  into,  by  which  it  was 
agreed  that  jMcGillivray  should  be  paid  a  certain  additional  sum 
of  money,  statements  of  the  amount  of  which,  being  in  conflict, 
range  from  $15,000  to  $100,000;  that  he  should  be  commissioned, 
as  he  was,  a  Brigadier  General  of  the  United  States,  and  made 
Indian  agent  to  represent  the  Government  among  all  the  Southern 
Indians,  for  which  he  was  to  receive  a  certain  annual  salary 
agreed  upon.  In  addition  to,  w-hich  he  obligated  himself,  after 
the  expiration  of  two  years,  to  turn  the  trade  from  his  partners, 
Pantoii,  Leslie  &  Company,  to  the  Americans  on  the  west  of 
Altamaha,  St.  Mary's  and  Charleston.  At  that  time  the  United 
States,  France  and  Spain  in  the  Western  w^orld  were  all  on  the 
alert  against  each  other.  It  is  now  made  manifest  that  at  this 
time  he  was  a  colonel  of  the  French  army,  and  drawing  pay  as 
such,  and  also  a  colonel  of  the  Spanish  army,  and  drawdng  pay 
as  such ! 

As  might  have  been  expected,  this  treaty,  when  promulgated, 
was  received,  like  that  of  Holston,  by  the  Georgians  with  great 
denunciation,  and  was  followed  by  great  consternation  throughout 
the  western  borders. The  land  yielded  to  McGillivray  was  claimed 
of  right  by  the  State  of  Georgia ;  she  had  issued  numberless  grants 
for  it  and  many  of  her  citizens  had  their  homes  there.  Washing- 
ton and  his  adherents  strongly  supported  the  treaty.  Jefiferson, 
in  writing  of  it,  described  it  as  "drawing  a  line  between  the  Creek 
and  the  State  of  Georgia  in  enabling  the  Government  to  do  as  it 
will  do  justice  against  the  offending  parties." 

Through  all  of  these  complications  McGillivra}-  consistently 
urged  and  perfected  his  plans  to  educate  his  people  as  a  military 
power  and  accustom  them  to  the  habits  of  civilization.  He  was 
preparing  himself  for  the  struggle  of  his  life  when  the   storm 

28 


should  come.  In  the  winter  of  1792-93  he  went  to  New  Orleans 
and  Pensacola  to  pacify  the  authorities  in  those  places  in  reference 
to  his  visit  to  New  York,  and  the  treaties  then  and  there  made. 
At  Pensacola  in  February,  1793,  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  age, 
he  was  stricken  with  pneumonia  and  a  wasting  fever,  and  in  that 
town  on  the  17th  day  of  February,  his  remarkable  life  came  to  a 
close.  With  Masonic  honors  he  was  buried  in  the  garden  of 
William  Panton,  amid  the  thrilling  emotions  and  griel  of  French, 
Spanish  and  Indian  acquaintances. 

By  his  death  the  keystone  of  his  arch  that  he  was  building- 
dropped  away.  I  have  had  the  mournful  interest  of  standing  at 
his  unmarked  grave.  Standing  there,  there  is  a  temptation  to 
regret  that  his  sword  was  "ungirt  ere  set  of  sun." 

Upon  his  death  the  Creeks  were  non-plussed  as  sheep  that  had 
lost  their  shepherd.  Col.  Milfort  abandoned  the  continent  and 
w^ent  to  Europe ;  the  firm  of  Panton,  Leslie  &  Company  soon  dis- 
solved, and  later  the  possessions  of  France  and  Spain  in  that  quar- 
ter were  lost  to  them  forever. 

The  troublous  question  between  the  Cnited  States  and  Georgia 
upon  one  side,  and  the  Creeks  upon  the  other,  continued  for 
several  years.  Washington  and  succeeding  Presidents  tried  in 
vain  for  peace  without  resort  to  war.  In  the  efforts  to  adjust 
these  matters  the  most  distinguished  citizens  of  the  United  States 
were  selected  to  have  conferences  concerning,  and  make  adjust- 
ments of  these  disputed  questions.  John  Sevier  was  persuaded  by 
President  Monroe  to  visit  that  nation  for  a  conference,  and  died 
on  that  duty  at  Fort  Decatur  at  Tookabatcha.  So  likewise  the 
friend  of  his  lifetime,  James  Robertson  at  Chickasaw  Bluff  (now 
jMemphis)  in  similiar  service,  gave  up  his  life. 

Later,  as  you  all  recall,  as  a  last  resort,  war  was  declared,  and 
to  prosecute  that  campaign  the  General  and  most  of  the  soldiers 
w^ent  from  Tennessee.  The  lifetime  dread  of  McGillivray  had 
been  verified;  Tennesseans  w^ere  to  become  the  avengers  of 
Watauga  and  Cumberland.  William  Weatherford,  quite  a  young 
man  and  a  nephew  of  McGillivray,  was  the  military  leader  of 
the  Creeks.  You  will  all  recall  generally  the  hot  and  bloody  cam- 
paign that  resulted — Tallahatchie,  Emuckfau,  Fort  Mims  and  the 
Horseshoe, — by  which  the  po^ver  of  the  Creek  nation  was  broken, 
and  the  danger  from  them  as  an  enemy  perished  forever.     Award- 

29 


ing  all  bravery  and  prowess  to  the  American  soldiers,  weakened 
as  they  were  by  surronndino:  circnmstances,  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  in  every  battle  fought  between  the  Indians  and  Gen- 
eral Jackson,  the  Indians  had  inferior  numbers,  except  at  the  at- 
tack upon  Fort  Mims,  which  was  utterly  destroyed  by  the  Indians, 
and  that  in  the  battle  at  Tallahatchie,  in  which  they  were  unsuc- 
cessful, the  Indians  charged  four  times  in  open  field,  in  regular 
line  of  battle,  without  a  parallel  in  all  Indian  warfare. 

This  William  Weatherford  is  the  same  young  man  who',  soon 
after  the  battle  of  the  Horseshoe,  .at  which  the  glory  and  power 
of  his  nation  went  down  forever,  made  his  way  to  the  tent  of 
General  Jackson  and  upon  his  name  being  announced,  was  asked 
by  the  General  how  he  dared  to  come  into  his  presence  after  the 
slaughter  of  men,  women  and  children  at  Fort  Mims,  to  which  he 
began  his  celebrated  response  by  these  words :  "General  Jackson 
I  ara  not  afraid  of  yoli  because  I  am  the  Chief  of  the  Creeks." 
The  interview  resulted  in  the  General  introducing  him  to  Mrs. 
Jackson,  commending  him  as  the  bravest  Indian  he  had  ever 
known. 

Among  the  forces  of  the  Indians  at  the  battle  of  the  Horse- 
shoe was  a  baby  nephew  of  McGillivray,  whose  mother  after  the 
defeat  bore  him  for  two  nights  and  a  day  through  the  wilderness, 
and  finally  into  Florida.  The  translation  of  his  Indian  name  was 
"The  Packed  One,"  in  the  Indian  tongue  "Osceola."  In  after 
vears  he  gave  the  United  States  much  concern,  and  with  whose 
history  you  are  more  or  less  familiar. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  influence  which  the  Creeks  had  in  the 
formation  of  the  history  of  Tennessee.  I  will  mention  another 
matter  well  known  to  your  Tennessee  fathers,  the  influence  of  the 
Creek  campaign  which  absolutely  controlled  military  and  civil  pro- 
motion for  many  years  in  this  State.  Jackson  was  thereby  made 
President,  of  undying  renown.  Governors,  up  to  and  including 
Carroll,  judges,  officers  of  militia,  and  sheriffs  rooted  their  popu- 
larity in  their  experience  in  the  Creek  war.  Every  campaign 
resounded  with  the  heroism  at  Emuckfau  and  the  Horseshoe, 
and  no  man  who  had  failed  to  enter  that  campaign  m  those  days 
was  ever  able  to  open  the  door  to  political  renown. 

I  subjoin  such  personal  description  of  ^IcGillivray  as  has  been 
handed  down  to  us : 

30 


He  was  a  tall,  spare  man,  with  quick  nervous  movements,  with 
long  tapering  fingers,  facile  with  a  pen,  large  dark  eyes,  high 
cheek  bones,  a  firm,  well  developed  chin,  a  beetling  forehead  that 
widened  as  it  extended  upward,  and  a  head  covered  with  heavy 
black  hair  worn  straight  back.  He  had  the  reputation  of  great 
personal  sympathy  and  kindness.  He  was  on  the  alert  ever  to 
relieve  distress.  He  maintained  ihree  dwelling  houses,  at  each 
of  which  he  kept  open  door,  with  free  entertainment,  for  all 
comers,  and  w-as  said  to  have  amassed  a  wonderful  fortune  for 
those  days.  Many  of  his  descendants  and  kinsmen  still  live  in 
the  Southern  States.  Among  the  Indians  he  has  always  been 
held  in  reverential  renown  and  great  regret  has  always  been  ex- 
pressed that  circumstances  compelled  him  to  sleep  in  the  sands  of 
the  Seminole.  Such  was  the  greatest  Talleyrand  of  American 
Historv. 


31 


'SO. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT 


CHAPEL  HILL 


lilllillil 

I         00030748950 

FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


THIS  TITLE  HAS  BEEN  MICROFILMED 


ForTT.  No.  A-368 


